Arts
Our Arts Program brings color and vibrancy to Cincinnati neighborhoods, demonstrating commitment to and care for overlooked spaces. We believe that through collaboration art is a catalyst for community transformation. Working in partnership with neighborhoods, non-profits, local companies, and other artists, our team alongside volunteers artistically improve and reimagine neglected spaces. Eyesores in a community like vacant buildings, crumbling retaining walls, abandoned alleys, and vandalized traffic boxes are transformed into community assets through site specific, dynamic works of art. Collectively our work aims to reduce blight, crime, and litter, while increasing economic development and access to public art. Our multifaceted artistic approach to neighborhood improvement and engagement serve as positive interventions to promote equity and improve the quality of life for all residents of Cincinnati.
High impact, low cost beautification strategies.
Increasing community pride and arts engagement across all Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Future Blooms
Boarded, vacant buildings are a drain on surrounding businesses, residents, and entire communities. Our Future Blooms program aims to change that. Free of charge to the community and owner, the boards on buildings and homes are treated with our painted “future blooms” artwork that transforms wooden barricades into trompe l'oeil representations of windows and doors. This simple change allows for communities to imagine the potential in an otherwise abandoned and unappreciated building. Putting color and designs onto these buildings connects fragmented communities, while creating visual interest that reinforces residents' pride in their neighborhood.
This trademark program started in the fall of 2009 and has painted the boards on over 1,500 buildings in 21 neighborhoods.
Our statistics show a 24% reduction in blight, a 25% reduction in crime, and a 54% increase in economic development
Do You Own A Boarded Building In Cincinnati?
If you or someone you know owns a building with one or more boarded doors and/or windows, they are an ideal candidate for Keep Cincinnati Beautiful’s grant-funded Future Blooms program!
Community Murals
Our Community Mural program began in 2010 in response to neglected walls adjacent to our Future Blooms sites. What started as a series of small interventions in one neighborhood has grown into a citywide, multifaceted approach to introduce high-impact, low-cost artwork into the public. All of our murals are done with the community to address systemic issues surrounding vacant public spaces. Crumbling retaining walls at neighborhood entrances, the side of a building next to a community center, or the vandalized alleyway that isn’t promoting safe, healthy public spaces are transformed with colorful works of art.
Our team of artists has led the creation of over 90 murals ranging in size from 60 to 6,000 square feet.
Creative placemaking
Creative placemaking strengthens communities through the intentional integration of arts, culture, and community engagement to breathe new life into unexpected places. We've done this through our Outside The Box project, which wraps blighted traffic boxes with vinyl wallpaper that depicts imagery from the neighborhood; BLINK installations that reimagine spaces and materials to engage viewers; and other permanent and pop-up installations around the city that create moments of surprise and delight.
Creative placemaking challenges the viewer to rethink their relationship to their environment, create a deeper sense of place, and strengthen community ties.
